Mansch On Montana: Herberger's employees recall good old days

Herberger's closed in Great Falls this week, ending an era that extended back to 1976.

Wochit

Janet Otter came to Great Falls in 1975, the year before a thriving retail business called Herberger’s opened here.

A few years later Janet joined the Herberger’s staff in a decision she’s never regretted.

“I love this job,” she says this week while surrounded by near-empty floors and a bargain-basement shoppers. “It’s been fantastic. We’ve had some wonderful management people and some wonderful workers.”

She stops as a voice over the loudspeaker sounds the alert: “Going out of business. The liquidation sale continues …”

Once the announcement stops, Janet manages a smile.

“Everything has just been great here,” she says. “It’s a sad situation that we’re not going to be together anymore. And that Great Falls is losing such a great store.”

Ah, but the memories linger in our town. Of a spanking new department store filled with goods and customers that served a generation. Of cheerful sales associates. Of employee gatherings.

Of cookouts on the roof. And, most memorably, a holdup.

A MINNESOTA MAN named Bob Herberger started a department store bearing his name in 1927. Some 45 years later the operation with headquarters in St. Cloud, Minn., had grown to 11 stores in four states – including Montana. Then an employee-owned company, the business was sold several times starting in 1997.

Bon-Ton acquired the franchise in 2006. The entity filed for bankruptcy and in April announced plans to close all 267 Herberger’s stores.

“When Herberger’s was really Herberger’s, it was a family-owned business,” says Patsy Lindberg. “When it was first bought out things started to change.”

Patsy has worked for Herberger’s for 37 years, the last 21 in Great Falls. Back in the old days, she says, the bosses knew all the employees.

“They knew your name, and they knew the names of your kids,” she says.

She shakes her head.

“It’s just sad,” she says.

HERBERGER’S CLOSED its doors officially last Wednesday, ending a liquidation sale that took several months and an era that in Great Falls dates back to 1976. That’s when the store originally came to the Holiday Village Mall in a spot currently occupied by Scheels.

Since 2000, Herberger’s has been in its new location on the west side of the mall, attracting consumers interested in clothing, housewares, jewelry, furniture and beauty products.

As many as 80 full and part-time employees once worked there. More than 40 were still there this week, counting down the final days. When the company was started 91 years ago, the logo included the name next to a rich red rose.

The Herberger's department store chain was purchased by a Pennsylvania company, Bon-Ton Stores Inc., about 20 years ago.

Tribune File Photo

Last week, the names of Great Falls employees were printed on pink hearts, along with years of service, that adorned the wall near the south entrance of the store. The pink was faded, much like the outlook of the entire retail industry.

SHAWN DIXON was born and raised in Great Falls and worked for Herberger’s for 35 years.

“I wouldn’t have stayed 35 years if I didn’t like it,” she smiles. “But the people are the best. That’s what kept me here. The job is not easy sometimes, but it’s a great group of people to work with.”

Shawn worked her way through the ranks and became store manager. She was one of the store executives – and one of its best customers.

“Absolutely,” Shawn says. “My whole wardrobe - my family’s whole wardrobe from the last 30 years – everything’s from here. I don’t hardly get out of the store.”

So how will Great Falls consumers cope now that the store’s gone?

“I don’t know,” Shawn says, and the smile disappears. “It’s tough. A lot of people are going online. We still have a few stores in Great Falls and I will go there.”

Then her grin is back.

“But I’ve got a lot of stuff left from my years here so I don’t need anything for a little while,” she says.

SHAWN, JANET and Patsy were among the eight remaining full-time employees at the Great Falls store. The closing, they agree, is emotional.

But it’s been so much fun to work there.

“We just had a farewell picnic at Black Eagle Park,” says Lynda Reeve. “Over the years we’ve had a lot of picnics and potlucks to get our employees together.”

There were Moonlight Madness, Crazy Day and Sidewalk sales.

“Those of us who worked here,” says Lynda, “we are a family.”

LYNDA, WHO WAS born and raised in Great Falls, worked at the Herberger’s store for 38 years. It’s the only job she’s ever had.

“To lose this,” Lynda says, “is very, very sad.”

For a lot of people.

“A lot of our kids worked here when they turned 16,” Lynda says. “I mean, all the associates had kids work here.”

The internet has certainly changed buying habits. Will consumers ever get back to shopping in stores rather than online?

“We can only hope,” Lynda says. “A lot of us like to feel the fabrics. You know, see if they’re soft against your skin. I’m a seamstress so I like to know the quality of the fabric.”

Patsy doesn’t see the big department stores ever returning.

“I think we’ll see smaller, specialty stores,” she says.

But it won’t be the same. Lynda says she will miss the faces that over nearly four decades became familiar.

“It’s been great waiting on our customers and getting to know them,” Lynda says.

Says Patsy: “Our customers became our friends because we’ve worked her so long. They know our names and we know their names.”

Bargain shoppers found discounted items, some tables with everything on sale for a quarter, last ...more

Bargain shoppers found discounted items, some tables with everything on sale for a quarter, last week at Herberger's in Great Falls. The store closed closed last Wednesday.

Scott Mansch

THE WOMEN ALL say their regular customers are upset.

Says Shawn: “They all say, ‘Where am I going to shop? Where am I going to go?’ In the community of Great Falls it’s a pretty big chunk of the retail gone. It’s a big chunk of the mall.”

In recent years our town has lost Sears. And Kmart.

“It’s a continuous struggle,” Shawn says. “I’m sure the retail liquidations aren’t done yet. There’s a lot of talk within the industry of what’s going to happen, with both brick-and-mortar stores and malls.”

Lynda says, despite the old Herberger’s logo, the job was not rosy all the time.

“Hours are tough,” she says. “You’re on your feet a lot. You’ve got good customers but also difficult customers. You have be smiling all the time and help them the best you can to satisfy what they’re looking for.”

Shawn plans to look for another job.

“I pretty much had to finish this out first,” she says. “Before I could concentrate on anything new.”

PATSY BEGAN HER Herberger’s career in Billings. She worked 11 years at the mall there, then five years at a new store downtown. The latter was shut down.

“So this is the second store I’ve closed,” Patsy says.

She pauses a moment.

“But this one is really hard.”

She began working in retail in 1981.

“I like working with customers and helping them,” she says.

She saw her daily mission this way: “If someone was having a bad day I’d try to help them have a better day,” Patsy says.

ALL DAYS, of course, are not happy ones.

“Staying open on Thanksgiving, taking us away from our family, that was about five years ago. And it was the worst thing,” Patsy says.

Says Lynda: “And the other worst thing was when we were robbed.”

It was the weekend before Christmas in the late 1990s.

“We had used some of the pre-release guys to help us remodel the store,” Lynda says. “They knew how to get in through our back hallway system to access our offices.”

The bad guys used a shotgun. They gathered several employees in the office, including Lynda and Patsy, and made an employee open the safe. The haul was significant, but the hold-up men weren’t exactly pros.

“They made us tie up some of the people with cords from vacuums,” Patsy grins.

The getaway didn’t last long.

"They caught 'em," Lynda says. “Our manager at the time, Mr. (Rick) Evans, sent us all thank-you notes, you know, thanking us for being strong. That meant a lot.”

Both Lynda and Patsy are smiling now. Even in its last hours as a Great Falls business, Herberger’s provided a measure of comfort for its longtime employees.

What will Lynda do now?

“I’m going to Disney World,” she says with a laugh. “No, just kidding.”

She pauses for a moment.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” Lynda says. “But I don’t plan on working retail again.”

Mansch On Montana appears regularly in this space. Scott Mansch can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com